Preschools maximize potential learning

Preschools maximize potential learning

Simon Marcus Gower, Executive Principal, High/Scope Indonesia School,
Jakarta

The other day, I happened to be talking to a couple of friends
who have two small children, the oldest of which is now attending
preschool.

It was quite surprising how flippant and even dismissive they
were regarding their child's attendance of a small
preschool-playgroup, which was being run from a large converted
house conveniently located in their neighborhood.

Effectively, they seemed quite unconcerned about whether or
not their daughter was having an educationally valuable
experience, within this playgroup.

It seemed as though they were only mildly interested in
finding out what their child was doing at playgroup. Of course,
their own very busy lives had a part to play. Both of them are
important figures within their respective companies, they have
little time to review their child's activities, or even attend
the preschool.

The father said, with very open honesty, that as long as the
child was safe, and did not get hurt clambering over the various
climbing frames available in the small playground, then "we (the
parents) feel comfortable that she is being kept busy, happy and
safe throughout the day, while we are busy."

It is not difficult to see, then, that for this couple, the
notion of a playgroup-preschool environment is little more than a
convenient babysitting and time-filling facility for busy parents
with young children. They, by their own admission, have given
little thought to the educational value of what is happening at
the preschool. It was, therefore, with some surprise and concern
that they listened to, really quite basic thoughts, about the
educational value and worth of carefully considering preschool
activities, and how significant preschool life can be to a
child's development.

It is true, that even with a quite basic appreciation of early
learning one can come to a quite critical recognition of the
value of care when thinking of preschools. For example, the early
education experiences that a child has can be hugely influential
in the patterning of a child's ability to think, which can have
long term implications for thinking skills right through into
adulthood.

A significant, and by now quite large, library of research has
been built up, which indicates the importance of early childhood
educational experiences to the development of a person's ability
to enter into higher levels of thinking.

A number of research projects have proposed indicators that
show a link between early educational encounters and later
abilities; or rather shortcomings in ability, where a child has
not had good early learning experiences, which highlight the
critical nature of careful thought being applied to early
childhood education. For example, it has been proposed that a
child that is allowed to remain confused and even discouraged in
an early childhood education environment -- particularly when it
comes to thoughts of a mathematical nature -- is likely to grow
up to be someone who is anxious and lacking in confidence when it
comes to dealing with numerical data and coping with other forms
of abstract thought.

It seems that educational experiences in early childhood can
be profoundly determining factors for future abilities,
development and intellectual growth. Patterns formed early on in
life are likely to be the templates of future intellectual and
psychological performance. It has been shown that a small child
that has encountered difficulties in dealing with numerical data
grows up to have an overt dislike for both mathematics, and
indeed technical subjects of all kinds.

This highlights the critical need for a preschool learning
environment that is both well-designed -- to provide the right
kind of experiences for the child -- and capably managed, in
order to achieve a comfortable and appealing learning
environment.

Such positive early learning experiences include a supportive
program of learning, in which the child is exposed to things that
can stimulate intelligent and thoughtful behavior. A quite simple
example has been used to illustrate how seemingly small,
insignificant and even obvious things can be highly formative and
productive for a small child.

Many people will be familiar with the notion of reading story
books to small children, but, perhaps, fewer people will realize
that with just a little extra thought the reading of a story book
can become a highly stimulating and developmentally beneficial
activity.

A child of three or four years of age can 'read along' with
the story. Although the child cannot yet really read, by having
the child look at the printed words on the page while the story
is being read the child will begin to realize that there is a
link between those printed words and the words that he/she is
hearing from the reader.

This can form a highly beneficial pre-reading skill that will
make it easier for the child to truly start reading. There are
also a variety of other pre-reading activities that a child may
be exposed to at preschool that can prove beneficial. For
example, the staff at a preschool can involve the children in
reading by entering into a discussion of the story, through which
they are encouraged to think about the plot, characters -- likes
and dislikes -- and sequencing of the story. Remembering
something that happened in a story can engage a child's mind in
reading. Also, songs involving sequences engage, as do nursery
rhymes.

Obviously, the above are just some examples of how little
children may be stimulated and encouraged to take pleasure in,
(what might otherwise in our modern world be considered a rather
mundane activity, such as), reading. It is probably true to state
that an activity, such as reading, is particularly challenging
for children today, given the extent of televised entertainment.
However, this only adds to the critical nature of a good
preschool learning environment.

It is too easy to think of preschools as time-fillers or
places at which little children will merely play. Preschools can,
and probably should, provide a place of learning that will help
children succeed in their school lives and beyond. The kind of
stimulation and thinking practice that can be formulated at this
early stage is not something that should be underestimated.